1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game device, a game system, a game control method, and an information storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Game devices for executing a video game in which a plurality of users participate have been hitherto known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-117340, for example, describes a game device for executing an online soccer game in which a plurality of users compete with one another.
In a game that is of the type described above and that allows a user to join the game in mid-game, not permitting a user to join the game in mid-game is preferred depending on the situation of the game that is being executed. For instance, in the online soccer game of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-117340, a user who joins the game in mid-game may fail to fully grasp the situation of the match immediately after the user joins the game in mid-game and cause the user's team to lose score points, or when the remaining time period of the match is short the user may not have a chance to really take an active part.